Editing/Modding Arcanum Guide - Spells, Items, Monsters

Thanks all for the info. I have been mapping/modding with arcanum (well, dabbling/doodling) of and on for a year or so but recently decided to get more stuck in. This is my first attempt at creating (more so recycling/editing) a spell, I have it in place of 'charm beast' (but it uses the 'entangle' eye candy):

spelllist.mes
// 50 -- Poison Thorns
{3500}{AoE: Tgt_Tile | Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Non_Party_Critters, Radius: 2, [Callback]AoE: Tgt_Summoned}
{3501}{Cost: 8, Maintain: (4 @ 10), DurationTriggerCount: 2, Resist: (stat_dexterity @ -0)} // 1 time
{3503}{Disallowed_TSF: OSF_ENTANGLED}
{3504}{AI_Offensive: 1}
{3505}{[Begin], Type: ObjFlag, obj_f_spell_flags, OSF_ENTANGLED, FLAG_ON}
{3506}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Obj_No_Self, Type: Damage, DmgType: Dmg_Poison, Dmg: 10-}
{3507}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Obj_No_Self, Type: Damage, DmgType: Dmg_Normal, Dmg: 4-8, Dmg_Flags: Scaled}
{3508}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Obj_No_Self, Type: EyeCandy, 2, Add}
{3509}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Obj_No_Self, Type: EyeCandy, 3, Add, Play: Stack}
{3510}{[Begin], Type: Effect, 62, Add} // speed -5
{3511}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Tile, Type: Summon, Proto: 4050}
{3512}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Tile, Apply_AoE: Tgt_Summoned, Type: EyeCandy, 2, Add, Play: Callback}
{3513}{[Maintain], AoE: Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Obj_No_Self, Type: Damage, DmgType: Dmg_Normal, Dmg: 3-6, Dmg_Flags: Scaled} //
{3514}{[End], Type: ObjFlag, obj_f_spell_flags, OSF_ENTANGLED, FLAG_OFF}
{3515}{[End], Type: Effect, 62, Remove}
{3516}{[Callback], AoE: Tgt_Summoned, Type: Destroy, Summoned Object}

spelleyecandy.mes
// 50 -- Poison Thorns
{500}{Art: 234, Palette: 1, Scale: 100%, Blend: Add, Sound: 19010, Flags: overlay_f | animates, Light: 1, Light Color: (0 @ 182 @ 25)} // Cast
{501}{} // Projectile
{502}{Art: 212, Palette: 1, Scale: 100%, Blend: Add, Sound: 19015, Flags: overlay_fb | animates, Light: 1, Light Color: (0 @ 182 @ 25)} // Destination
{503}{Art: 213, Palette: 1, Scale: 100%, Blend: Add, Flags: overlay_fb | animates | anim_forever, Light: 1, Light Color: (0 @ 182 @ 25)} // Secondary Destination
{504}{} // Secondary Casting

spell.mes
{750}{This spell creates a patch of thorned vines that wrap around your enemies, slowing them and causing damage over time.}

this is basically my alternate 'entangle' spell which came about after I combined the 'harm' spell with the molotov cocktail 'spell':

//wip j
// 00 -- Unnamed
{0000}{AoE: Tgt_Tile | Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Non_Party_Critters, Radius: 2, [Callback]AoE: Tgt_Summoned}
{0001}{Cost: 8, Info: aggressive}
{0003}{AI_Offensive: 1}
{0004}{No_Stack: 0}
{0005}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Obj_No_Self, Type: Damage, DmgType: Dmg_Fire, Dmg: 6-12}
{0006}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Obj_No_Self, Type: Damage, DmgType: Dmg_Normal, Dmg: 4-8}
{0007}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Obj_No_Self, Type: EyeCandy, 2, Add}
{0008}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Obj_No_Self, Type: EyeCandy, 3, Add, Play: Stack}
{0009}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Obj_Radius | Tgt_Obj_No_Self | Tgt_Obj_T_Critter, Type: AGoal, anim_goal_knockback} // think i removed this line
{0010}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Tile, Type: Summon, Proto: 4050}
{0011}{[Begin], AoE: Tgt_Tile, Apply_AoE: Tgt_Summoned, Type: EyeCandy, 2, Add, Play: Callback}
{0012}{[Callback], AoE: Tgt_Summoned, Type: Destroy, Summoned Object}

// 00 -- Unnamed // molotov eye candy
{000}{} // Cast
{001}{} // Projectile
{002}{Art: 350, Palette: 1, Scale: 100%, Blend: Add, Sound: 8808, Flags: overlay_f | animates, Light: 1, Light Color: (242 @ 165 @ 0)} // Destination
{003}{Art: 349, Palette: 1, Scale: 100%, Blend: Add, Flags: overlay_f | animates} // Secondary Destination
{004}{} // Secondary Casting

combined the spell harm with the molotov cocktail 'spell'.
result: a molotov cocktail explosion that can be triggerd on any tile

e: I'll admit, my previous Arcanum plays have been with non-magic characters so most of what I've learned about how magic works has been in the .mes files. When I noticed the 'maintain (1 @10)' etc I was reminded of the way some spells worked in a more recent game (serpent in the staglands)... or rather I noticed that Arcanum had a similar way of using some spells. Anyways, this spell (poison thorns) can target any tile and be maintained (as long as you have enough mana/fatg) in a similar way to some spells in SITSL. Its radius (could be dropped to 1 maybe) allows it to entangle more than one enemy and I assume (spell hasn't been fully tested or balanced) will entangle enemies moving over any tiles the spell is being maintained on? Currently the animations only play if an NPC has been entangled (so you wont see the spell if cast/maintained on a tile unless cast on or near an NPC). The radius and 'anim_forever' also seems to allow the animations to cling to walls if cast near them... I liked this effect, you may disagree but leaving a trail of vines in my wake was kinda fun.

Well, I thought it was kinda cool for a first attempt. FYI i had pretty much zero previous coding/modding knowledge, Arcanum/World Ed is where I've started.